Hello I'm Indigo, (wannabe) profesional character designer.
Character Design is one of my favorite parts of creating a story and, narratively, it's by far one of the most important in terms of comic creation. I want to offer my services for all those who struggle with making compelling character designs. My credentials? Oh, I don't...have any. Examples of my work? ...For free?
I'm kidding... mostly. I'll share an example at the end of this post.
But first, let me start with some general advice for passersby. This is one way to go about making a fleshed out and compelling character design. I have a tiered method for doing so.
The Long Advice
Tier 1: Setting
What is the setting of your story? What is the overall world where this is taking place? This generally has to do with genre of your story whether it's sci-fi, fantasy, or historical. As a little sub category of setting, I would incude the history of a setting. Were their wars, how was the world created, etc.? This will inform things lke the region or societal expectations and norms.
Tier 2: Region
Where in you story's world is your character from. Region and setting kind of go hand in hand. Climate has to do with region along with physical location. Does it rain often where your character lives/is from. Do the live underground or on the side of a volcano. Maybe they reside in the slums of their city or have only ever known the comfort of a penthouse apartment. All these things inform your character's design.
Tier 3: Occcupation
What does your character do for a living and what have they done for a living in the past? Are they a student or war veteran? How much do they get paid for their job if at all? And does their occpation require or encourage a uniform?
Tier 4: Demographics
Age, sex and gender, species, race, diability status, etc. There's more examples than that, but I'm just going off the top of my head. All these things will affect a character's appearance because they have to do with how a character chooses to present themselves. Going back to the setting, the history of the setting will also bleed into a characters demographics because it determines how individuals categorize themselves and what is expected of them as they move about their life.
Now that we've made it through the hard work, now it's time for the fun stuff. Most of this subjective, since things like colors and shapes and details.
Tier 5: Geometry and Hues (Shape Language and Color)
Starting with shape language, there are three main shapes: circle, triangle, and square. Shape language (SL) is important but it's not always a concrete science. Generally, circles indicate softness, youth, and kindness. Triangles indicate energy, cunning, and sharpness. And lastly, squares indicate stableness, sterness, and reliability. SL can help subtly define a character's traits and emphasize their silhouette. But, it doesn't have to always be that way and what I've said before only goes so far. A show like Steven Universe follows shape languge to a tee but Spongebob Squarepants is a little more fast and loose if you go off the definitions I've provided. So consider it, but it doesn't have to be all, end all.
Color is another place where there are already associations, but they aren't concrete and can mean completely different things in the world of your story. So, real quick: Red = passion, aggression, danger. Orange = excitement, warth, energy. Yellow = happiness, positivity, cowardess. Green = life, health, nature. Blue = sadness, intelligence, tranquility. Purple/violet = royalty, uniqeness, spirituality. Black = drama, sofistication, death. White = purity, innocence, cleanliness. Pink = femininity, sweetness, naivete. Brown = reliability, homliness, simplicity. And lastly, Gray =s ensibility, wiseness, neutrality. But again, generalities. Applicable, but not contrete. In the same breath that green can be associated with life and health, it could also be associated with disease and sickliness. It truly depends on context. Along with color is value, and this is more of a personal preference. Value is the darkness or lightness of a hue/color. Differences in value results in contrast and leads the eye of the viewer around the character, drawing focus to certain areas. High contrast in a character design makes it easier to differentiate between different parts of a character. Low contrast character designs tend to make all parts of a character look the same from a distance. Not the worst thing, just something to consider.
Tier 6: Details
The final thing I'll leave you with is details. You can add them for fun, but it's alway more interesting to have a little story or reason for a detail. Details can include physical features, like eye colors or freckles, or accesories like glasses or a ring. For example, a tattoo on a character could be the result one drunken night's choice or start of a character's creative journey with body modification or gotten in rememberance of somebody. I, personally, don't add a lot of details to my character designs, but that's because expect to draw them over and over again, and details take time.
I want to end this little advice section by saying all of what I've said are either my opinions or my interpretations on character design philosophies. I don't even abide by these ideas every time I make a character. There's plenty to be said that I didn't go over like silhouette, balance, stylization, research, and so much more. The most importat thing is to be considerate of the story of the character. Unless you're making a character to have and to hold, all the things I've mentioned should build into the backstory of your character and the story you plan to tell with them. But also, you can make a design and then build a story around it, so you know, whatever.
So, here comes the fun part: the art. I'll show a character of mine and get into the ideas behind their design. (if you wantto see anyore, just ask and I'll pick someone)
First up: Otar
I don't have a lot of spare art of her, so please be okay with this chibi. Otar is a goddess of water from a world similar but slightly different from the world we live in. Otar's not from a specific region since she's a goddess and her job includes watching over her creations on earth. She thousands of years old and identifies as a woman, but past that, demeogrphically, there's not much to her. The primary color of her design is blue due to the associations with water and tranquility and her shape language is generally round. Details inculde her blue, circular earring, which renforce her SL and color, and her hair is made of water... for obvious reasons. She is part of a group of four goddesses and they all wear uniforms/suits similar her but with different cutouts and colors.
You are now free to post any characters that you would like some advice on. I'd say post characters that are in their planning stage, but if you want to post an established character, that's fine. I would also appreciate some context behind the character, like a bit a backstory, or at least an occupation. Ok... I mean, post of you want.